Various adventures: beginning 2009 (EMG #80)

This continues the discussion of our holiday activities . . . still missing photos (which I also rely on to trigger my recollections of the events, so likely there will be more to come on text as well as photos).

1. January 1 - Patricia and I were down to breakfast at the hotel by around 7:30a, with exactly zero other customers around . . . maybe New Year's Eve activities slowed the breakfast crowd? Anyway, we got organized and went over to Arnie & Joann's place to pick up our three sons. Luis, POC, Nicole, Kerry stayed in Chicago for the day to go to the outdoor hockey game at Wrigley Field. The rest of us drove to Iowa. Very easy trip; the Chrysler minivan works well for these purposes; no weather issues; made it to St. Joe around 5:30p. Which was right in time for a pork patty supper. A good group of early arrivers were there; played cards (some played spoons) watched a couple bowl games (not competitive). Eventually up to the AmericInn in Algona. Chris, Patrick and Paul Jr. were were channeling Mike O'Donnell and Vo Zintak as we finished the trip.

2. Jan 2 - breakfast and chatting at the hotel for quite awhile. Charlie went with the four of us over to the YMCA to find some exercise; ended up playing basketball there. We picked up Kevin Illg for our sixth; the kid can actually shoot the ball. He and Charlie had some good matchups. This was fun, the facility was quite nice. Then back to the hotel, where everyone eventually gathered (including car #2 from our group, consisting of the four above-named hockey fans). It turned out that all six daughters and all three sons were able to make it for their father's 80th birthday - first time we all were together in quite a few years. So that was nice. We went over to some studio for a family photo. This was fun to do and a good idea, but unfortunately it turned out that the product wasn't all that great. (That also was the only point where the 11 of us were more or less "alone together," which was a nice feeling in itself. And it did bring to mind little things like Glenn's Studio (family portraits from the 1960s).) Back to the hotel for a pizza supper; then a long session of bingo featuring prizes brought in from various parts of the country. Followed by a late euchre game involving CCG and my sons in the break room. Weather was turning quite a bit colder, with wind and some precipitation starting.

3. Jan 3 - everyone eventually got organized at the hotel and we made our way down to St. Joe for noon meal, etc. Grandma had ridiculously good baked goods every time we turned around. At this point the weather was icing up pretty significantly. There were a couple NFL playoff games, including the first home playoff game for the Cardinals in something like 47 years. This overlapped with the 80th birthday party but it turned out that the Cardinals were able to win without us. Played cards a bunch in the afternoon.

4. The actual 80th birthday party was held later in the day, at the "learning center" (chapel) in the St. Joe school. Very nicely arranged, including choice of location; food was good, decorations nice; etc. It was most enjoyable to hear folks share thoughts about EMG, with three generations of commenters chiming in. There is a feeling of continuity about these things (at least for us (somewhat) older folks); you can't help thinking of the previous generations and wishing they were there to speak up as well. As far as a sense of continuity, it also was an interesting thought to know that prior generations were resting, let's say, in the cemetery right up the hill. Unique. EMG is at a stage where he is as good an embodiment as can be found for St. Joe continuity . . .

5. But enough of that; after the party, we went back to the house in St. Joe. At this point I was getting thoroughly reacquainted with concepts such as warming up the car, chipping off ice, etc. First time in this level of weather since the 80s. There was plenty of ice by now. More talking and card playing, then drove back to Algona up an icy (but adequately salted) highway 169. Late cards with CCG again at the AmericInn (and Kristen this time); we were in the breakfast area but were invited to play Texas hold-em with another group in the break room. Intriguing offer and good for some laughs, but we declined. No doubt we looked like easy marks, or something. . .

6. Jan 4 - Everyone got organized early and went down to St. Joe for 8am Sunday mass. Icy again. Tailwind permitted sliding along hotel parking lot when walking to car. Icy at school and church. Stopped for "coffee and rolls." We had thought that we would drive around St. Joe area a bit on this day, plus tour the house on the farm. But the weather made that unattractive. Alternate attractions included NFL playoff games and pretty much continuous card playing. Some who planned to travel stuck around for the day; others made it back to Mpls (with delays along I-35) or Storm Lake. Luis and POC continued to hold up quite well with a large group of new friends in confined quarters. Probably never played so many cards at one time. One group switched to Chinese checkers later in the day. Said our goodbyes. Eventually back to hotel, where we sat in the lobby for awhile and chitchatted about our vacation travels.

7. Jan 5 - this was our travel day to return to Chicago and Phoenix; quick (and unsuccessful) stop at the house in St. Joe to look for some kind of hair dryer or something (it was nice to see the folks there). Icy conditions had pretty much given up. Various stops; the two cars pretty much stayed together; eventually split at O'Hare (from which Luis was flying; also said goodbye to Nicole and POC there); then to Midway where said goodbye to Kerry; easy flight to Phoenix.

8. So that was it. Highly unusual confluence of circumstances where we all could be together, have time with just us during the first part of the break, then also had time with most of the relatives on both sides of the family. Our two traveling guests, not surprisingly, were easy and fun traveling companions throughout, at least as far as I know.

By the way, the goodbyes are never fun but maybe because of the duration and the nice time, at the end it made me very sad to say goodbye to Nicole (at the O'Hare oasis) and Kerry (at Midway). Such a nice time together. The summary above gives some info about how the days played out but - as wonderfully fun as all that was - it's pretty obvious that the gift is just being together.

Various adventures: closing out 2008

Back in Arizona and slowly catching up with things after a delightful holiday break. Some quick notes regarding the December portion of our holidays (through 12/31/08) are below. Will post on the January portion soon. These posts are much delayed in part because I've been stalling around waiting for some photos. (They haven't arrived so will be added later. Patricia and I didn't take pictures (other than a cell phone photo of "Santa" per below) so it may take some time . . . )

1. Anyway, the fun started with Patrick's graduation in Tucson on December 19, described in the preceding post.

2. With Nicole and Kerry in town, now all seven of us were together, a state which continued until we split up in Chicago late in the day on January 5. I'm grateful we had all those days together and wonder when/if it will happen again for that long of a time.

3. Pre-Christmas, we did some Christmas prep stuff, and mostly enjoyed hanging around the house together. Various parties, including at both Linda and Ray's and Helen and Massoud's on 12/20; party at our house for the graduation on 12/21. The seven of us had dinner together at Richardson's on 12/24, a very enjoyable meal again. Prior, Paul Jr. reprised his role as Santa at the Cummings' Christmas party (at which we all stopped by).

4. Patricia had to work on Christmas Day (like last year); the rest of us hung out at the house, visited her at Mayo, and watched Chris prepare a fine Christmas feast (which was served up promptly after she got back from Mayo).

5. Then spent a couple more days basically just doing miscellaneous things together. Kerry and Nicole showed what seemed to be an unnatural interest in some Wii shooting game. Quite a bit of Wii bowling. We had fun playing the "tip-in" version of HORSE at the basketball courts down at the park. Patricia continued cooking various great dinners. Mary Beth hosted a nice holiday party on 12/27.

6. We then hit the road - flew to Chicago on 12/28. Mary Beth and "Bumber" took us to the airport. Paul Jr. forgot his wallet and cell phone- some ID issues, though didn't create much inconvenience. Easy flight; typically slow process getting car and baggage at Midway. We met up with POC there. Lunch at Portillo's. Dinner at the restaurant right up the road from Joann's place, I already forget the name. Weather a non-factor; we heard tales that things had been awful for quite a few days, then a 55 degree day with heavy rain that washed away all of the mess just before we arrived. Met an absolutely massive dog (named Kirby). It was fun just chit-chatting etc., Arnie & Joann are fine hosts.

7. December 29 - fine breakfast courtesy of Arnie. For some reason we had the idea of going bowling, and there were some very good scores. So that was fun. Several grocery store trips culminating in a very good fajitas dinner. Played pinochle; Patricia and Nana won games, I wasn't even close. Another fine day mostly hanging around.

8. December 30 - A bunch of us (i.e. my three sons and me) eventually went to the north side and had lunch at a Geno's East location near Nicole's apartment. It was good, except they forgot to put in the order for Chris and me (meaning everyone else sat and waited with us). POC went to pay for lunch, which was nice except Nicole had already taken care of it. Luis had arrived from DC by this time so he was with for lunch (also Kerry, Nicole, POC). Took a quick tour of Nicole's apartment after lunch (first time I was at this location) - nice. Luis brought Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" as a Christmas gift which is a fine choice especially with the economic goings-on and disorganized political response these days. But probably not as good a gift choice as the Halo figurines that soon absorbed my sons. After all this, back out to Joanne & Arnie's where we had a chance to sit, relax, talk for an hour or so.

9. In the evening we went over to Jan Zintak's place. The nine in our traveling party went, plus Nicole and Danny Loza. In addition to Jan and Rita, Pat and Nancy were there, also Voe showed up (with lots of tales of his visits to Arizona (his son is a cop in Phoenix, it turns out)). Jan does an unbelievable job decorating her apartment. She had all kinds of snacks and desserts, also ordered pizza for the large group. This turned out to be a very fun evening - even did some Christmas singing. Jan pulled out her cassette tape of the 1977 Glee Club Christmas album, I appreciated that she was thoughtful about that. And haven't seen a cassette tape version in many years (though I have several LP copies).

10. December 31 - some folks did lots of work decorating Joanne's place - including creating what were loosely termed as "party hats" - modified shower caps, actually. Did some prep, Costco shopping, etc. (somewhat re-created the meal we had put together courtesy of Costco for Patrick's graduation. Party in the evening - music, dancing, nice food, typical New Year's Eve type entertainments. All but one of us wisely shed our party hats fairly early in the evening. Got to see John's family plus Ping's sister were there. Back to the hotel with a group of animated passengers, where some probably slept more soundly than others.

So that's it for 2008 . . . and I must say I had quite a wonderful year with my little friend and all, not sure how you'd beat it . . . then again it seems like that pretty much every year . . .